Light and Dark
by bandgeek18
Summary: A new nighlock creation has emerged. One that threatens to take the light away forever. It light versus dark as the rangers realize even the brightest of them is capable of the darkest things.
1. Prophecy

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

Prophecy

Light and Dark go hand in hand

A choice to save or destroy their land

Two souls form one in a single self

Good and Evil on a single shelf

Light and Dark one on one

Black as a hole, bright as the sun

Friends and foes take their mark

A creation to tear the world apart

Defeat the samurai at their core

Warriors of hope fight no more

The final breath fills their ears

Raise the Sanzu with their tears

Die the light, die their heart

Die their most essential part

Watch the world crumble and burn,

Or watch a friend's final turn

In the end it is his choice

Cries of sorrow or rejoice

Not killed by Dark, but burned by fire

Take away her heart's desire

Killed by a brethren hand

The hopeful samurai's final stand


	2. Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter One: Dreams

A/N: hello people! So I hope you all enjoyed the prophecy I put up in the last chapter. It will play a very important part in the story...but I can't say too much. Please enjoy!

"We've all got both light and dark inside if us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

The screams of his friends filled Jayden's ears. The red ranger looked around. He reached for his samuraizer, but he couldn't find it. "Jayden!" Lauren shouted. "Jayden help!"

"Lauren!" he shouted, struggling through the thick forest that surrounded him. "Lauren I'm coming!"

"Jayden!" his blood froze at the sound of her voice. "Brother, help me!"

"I'm coming!" he shouted. He broke through the trees, ruthlessly pushing branches aside. A couple snapped back in his face, scratching him, but he ignored it. "Lauren!" he shouted.

As he ran he found the world around him getting darker and darker. He felt an ominous feeling creeping up his spine. _Something's not right._ He reached the spot where her screams were coming from and found...nothing. He was standing in a small clearing. "Lauren!" he shouted looking around. The world had now become completely dark and black. "Lauren!"

"Jayden!" she answered, her voice still sounding far away. "I can't see you. It's too dark!"

"Where's the light?!" Mike shouted from an unknown spot.

"Mike where are you?!"

"I don't know! I can't see anything!"

"What's going on?!" Kevin shouted.

"Kevin do you know where you are?!" Jayden shouted.

"No! It's too dark!"

"Guys!" Mia shouted.

"Why is it so dark?!" Emily asked.

"I don't know!" Jayden shouted. He felt slightly relieved. Everyone was accounted for except for... "Antonio!" he shouted realizing the gold ranger's absence. "Antonio where are you?!" There was no answer. "Guys do you know where Antonio is?!" They didn't reply. "Guys?!"

He walked slowly, trying to keep from stumbling in the darkness. He tripped over something and fell face first on the ground. He looked back and felt his heart stop. It was Antonio. The gold ranger was lying in the ground, eyes devoid of life. His neck bent at an odd angle to show it was broken. "Antonio," Jayden whispered.

He crawled back and lifted Antonio's head. His eyes had no light in them. Only cold darkness. He felt his breath coming in short gasps. "No, no, no, no, no!" He sobbed. "How did this happen?!" He heard evil laughter form behind him. He turned around, still hugging Antonio's corpse to his body. A voice was getting closer, but Jayden couldn't see who it was. He looked down at Antonio...

Jayden's eyes popped open. A second later he shot up in bed. No screaming, just his breath coming in short gasps. He looked at his alarm. _1:35. Everyone is sleeping._ He took a calming breath. He could still feel Antonio's body in his hands. _Antonio..._ He got up and crept over to his door. He opened it silently an peered out. There was no one in the hall. O _f course not. All the sane people are asleep._ He tiptoed across the hall to Antonio's room.

He opened the door silently. The pale light of the hall shone into Antonio's room. The gold ranger was fast asleep, his head near the footboard for some strange reason. It was hard to see him though, because Jayden's shadow practically hid him from view. He listened for a few moments to the sound of Antonio's quiet breathing. The gold ranger moaned and blinked.

"Jayden?" he asked groggily. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," Jayden lied. "Go back to sleep." He turned away and shut the door behind him. Antonio fell back onto his pillow and fell asleep. Jayden went back to his room and laid down in bed. _It felt so real._ He gulped. The darkness had been so deep it and felt like it was suffocating. "Relax," he whispered. "It was just a dream. That's all. It was just a dream." He closed his eyes and tried to fall back asleep. As he did this Lauren walked silently down the hall.

She stopped for a moment, thinking she heard someone moving around, but it was nothing. She carefully opened Antonio's door, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that he was sleeping soundly. Or not soundly. He opened his eyes and looked up at her.

"Is something wrong?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "No. Just worried about you."

He smiled. "Well, I'm right here."

She smiled. "Ok. Good night."

He nodded. "Good night," he said sleepily. He laid down and was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Lauren orft his room and returned to her own.

_I'm being silly,_ she thought as she did. _It was just a stupid dream. It was just a dream._

Please review! Pretty please!


	3. Secrets and Promises

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Two: Secrets and Promises

A/N: hello! Here's the next chapter! Please tell me what you think! Please! Oh, and I've decided to change the story summary because I was reading it, and I thought it didn't really match the story line. Fear not, tis till the same story I stared though.

"We've all got both light and dark inside if us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

The next morning Antonio was up before dawn to go fishing. He got dressed silently and grabbed a couple of granola bars from the kitchen. He tiptoed into Lauren's room and gave her a goodbye kiss on the forehead, before silently leaving the house. He grabbed his fishing supplies and headed down to the docks.

It was still an hour or so before sunrise, so there weren't many people around. He got to the docks and found a few fishermen already arriving. He found a good spot to fish and got work preparing his fishing poles. He a baited them with smaller fish he'd caught the day before and cast his line. He sat back and munched on his granola bar while he thought about the precious night.

It wasn't uncommon for Lauren to check on him in the middle of the night. But it was uncommon for both Lauren and Jayden to come into his room in the middle of the night. "Weird," he muttered. "I wonder what happened?" He shrugged. He could ask them later...and then ask them again when the red rangers lied.

-Light and Dark-

A few hours later Jayden woke up and got dressed. The rest of his night has been pleasantly uneventful. No more dreams of darkness or finding Antonio's corpse. He shivered at the thought. _Crazy,_ he decided. He decided to skip breakfast and found Lauren in the yard. "Not hungry?" he asked.

She shook her head. "No. Jayden..." she said carefully. "Did you...have any strange dreams last night?"

"No!" He said quickly thinking Lauren had seen him last night. "I mean...no. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she said casually. "Just curious."

"Ok," Jayden said, his suspicion rising.

-Light and Dark-

Later that day Antonio returned to the house. He found Jayden training in the yard, where he usually was. "Ahola Amigo."

"Hey Antonio," Jayden said. He noticed the gold ranger looked a little tired. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," Antonio said. "I'm fine."

"Oh. You just look tired."

"Well, a certain fire samurai did wake me up in the middle of the night, as did his sister."

"Sorry about that," Jayden replied. "Wait Lauren came into you room too?"

"Yeah. She woke me up a few minutes after you left."

"What did she say?"

"Not much. Just that she wanted to check on me. That's what you were doing, right?"

"What?"

"You came in to check on me, right?"

"Yeah," Jayden said honestly. "I had this dream and...well it's not important."

"It's just a dream, amigo," Antonio said. "It's just a dream."

"I know," Jayden said. But he didn't t believe it. Antonio stared out at nothing. He wanted to know his best friend's dream had been about.

"What was your dream about?"

"Nothing," Jayden said. "It was nothing."

"Sure doesn't sound like nothing."

"If there's something wrong I'll let you know."

"Sure you will," Antonio said rolling his eyes. "Just promise me something."

"Depends on what it is," Jayden answered giving him a suspicious look.

"Promise me that if theses dreams continue, you'll tell me."

Jayden smiled. "Alright. I promise."

"Ok then," Antonio declared. "Now that that's taken care of, I have to go see mí amor. Adios."

"Adios," Jayden said. Antonio got up and went into the house. Jayden smiled to himself, shaking his head. His amusement didn't last long though as he thought over his newly made promise. "What I am suppose to tell him?" the red ranger muttered to himself. "I had a dream where the world was filled with darkness and I was holding your corpse in my arms?"

He could imagine that wouldn't go over very well. "It's not like I have to tell him," he said aloud. "Besides, it'll probably never happen again. And if is does, it's not like I have to tell anyone."

Little did he know Antonio had needed to run back and grab something from his cart. He stood just inside the doorway frozen in his tracks. "Hey," Kevin said seeing him. "You ok?"

Antonio snapped out of this daze. "Uh...yeah. I'm fine. I just...never mind." He brushed past the confused blue ranger and went to his room. He closed the door quickly, his mind spinning. _What is Jayden talking about? He was in the dark and I was...I was dead?!_ He sat down on his bed slowly. _It's probably nothing,_ he thought. "Dreams don't just...they don't tell the future. It's not possible." And yet he knew it was.


	4. A Devious Plan

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Three: A Devious Plan

A/N: hey guys! So I had really bad writers block, so that's why the chapter is so short. But please read and review! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

"Oo aa oo," Octoroo said, absentmindedly.

"What are you oo-ing and aa-ing about now?" Dayu asked bored.

"Oo aa oo," Octoroo replied. "I think I've come up with a plan to get rid of those pesky rangers forever."

"Can't wait to hear this one," Dayu said sarcastically.

"Oo aa oo, it's genius."

"You say that every time, and yet they still win."

"This time will be different."

"How?" Dayu asked, losing interest in the conversation as she started looking over her harmonium.

"Oo aa oo we're going to attack them from the inside out."

"How exactly are we going to do that?" Dayu asked, not interested in the plan at all.

"We're going to destroy one of them, and the rest will follow."

"And which one of them will this be?"

"The gold ranger."

Dayu looked up. "The gold ranger?"

Octoroo nodded. "Oo aa oo, he's the easiest to get to. He'll also be the one my plan will work best on."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because he's cared for by both the red rangers."

"'Let's just say that you crazy plan works and we manage to kill the gold ranger. How will that kill the others?"

"Because they'll lose the reason they have for fighting. They'll be so grief stricken that they won't be able to stop us."

Dayu nodded. "And even if they do fight, they'll be so angry they'll forget the virtues of bushido."

"Exactly. They'll be so enraged they'll become an embodiment of what they seek to destroy. They'll be lost with out the samurai of light."

Dayu smiled cruelly. "Die the light, die their heart. Die their most essential part."

"Oo aa oo," Octoroo said. "Exactly."

"So how do we kill him?"

"Oo aa oo, that's the next brilliant part. You'll see in time, but for now I want you to watch him through the gaps."

"What? Why do I have to do it?"

"Oo aa oo, because I have to prepare the next phase, which will take time. "

"Fine," Dayu said. "But this plan better work, or else," she nodded her head at the unconscious Master Xandred.

"Oo aa oo, it will work. It can't fail."

"It better not," Dayu muttered, but the plan had now intrigued her. By taking out one ranger they were essentially taking them all out. She smirked. "Let's raise the Sanzu with their tears."


	5. Dark Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Four: Dark Dreams

A/N: hey people! Here's the new chapter! Please read and review!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Lauren was sure she was dreaming. There was no way the world could be this dark. There was just no way. She looked around, but the darkness covered everything in a blinding blanket of nothingness. She put her hands out in front of her as she walked. The darkness was suffocating her. "Hello!" she called out into the void. "Is anyone there?"

She spun around as she heard shuffling feet. "Who's there?"

She heard evil laughter, but couldn't pinpoint its origin. "Show yourself!"

She jumped back as something moved against her leg. She looked around, but she couldn't see anything.

"No!"

"Jayden!" She ran towards the sound of her brother's voice. "Jayden where are you?!"

"Help!"

"Antonio!"

She ran towards their voices, thankfully not tripping on anything. She stopped. "Guys! Where are you?!"

She saw a small glowing light appear. Then another; and then another; and another, until there was a trail of them floating inches above the ground. The golden light cast an eerie glow over the woods. She hesitated, thinking following the mysterious light might not be the best idea.

"Ahhhh!"

"Jayden!"

She followed the trail of lights. Each one went out at as she reached it, but more appeared in front of her. She looked around. "Jayden! Antonio! Where are you?!"

She followed the lights to a small clearing. She stopped in her tracks, struggling to pull in a breath. Jayden was kneeling on the ground, a dead Antonio in his arms. The gold ranger's eyes were wide open, staring up at a starless sky. Lauren stared at them in shock. Jayden had Antonio cradled against his chest. Her brother's sobs brought her out of her trance. "Jayden!" she said running up to him. She fell to her knees next to him. "What happened?"

Jayden shook his head. "Had...Had no choice."

"What?"

"They killed him. It's all my fault. This is all my fault."

"What happened to him?"

Jayden shook his head. "It's all my fault!"

Lauren didn't know what to do. She watched helplessly as Jayden's tears fell on Antonio's still face. A twig snapped. She looked up and scooted closer to Jayden. Jayden looked up and shook his head, growing even paler. The pale light cast by the tiny balls surrounding them revealed a silhouette figure.

The figure swung a sword at then laughing. "Hahaha."

"No," Jayden whispered. "He...He can't be...No... it's impossible."

"What's impossible? Jayden what's going on?!"

"Antonio...I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Obviously your not going to help," she muttered. The figure came cLoser and swung its sword at her-

Lauren shot up in bed and looked around. She took a shaky breath. "Just a dream," she whispered. "It was just a dream." She got up and opened her door. She walked down the hall and around the corner to the hall where the boys' rooms were. She opened Antonio's door. He was sleeping peacefully, his breaths slow and even.

She slipped in and shut the door behind her.

Antonio's head snapped up. "Huh? Lauren? What's up?"

"Nothing," she whispered sitting on the edge of hIs bed. "I just...wanted to be near you."

He smiled and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her neck, making her smile. "I'm right here," he whispered.

Lauren smiled as she laid down next to Antonio. He threw the blanket over them. Lauren snuggled in next to him. Antonio put his head next to hers. Within a few minutes he was asleep again. Lauren sighed and closed her eyes. At least while lying next to Antonio everything was fine. She turned over looked out the window, seeing the stars.

Antonio wrapped his arms around her in his sleep. She smiled and put her head on his chest. Everything was fine...for now.


	6. Assumptions

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Five: Assumptions

A/N: I apologise in advance if the Spanish is wrong, but I was attempting to do it without a translator. Thanks for all the reviews! Please read and review some more!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Lauren was pleasantly surprised to see she was still in Antonio's arms to next morning.

"Bueneas Dias, mì amor."

"Good morning to you too."

He kissed the top of her head. "Its nice waking up next to you."

"Same goes for me." She snuggled into his chest. "I could stay here all day."

"Me too," he replied. "But if we did," he whispered in her ear. "I think a few of the other rangers would make assumptions, and I could do without Jayden killing me."

"He wouldn't kill you," Lauren argued.

"Do you even remember how he reacted when he found out about us?"

"That was different."

"How?"

"Because I think it would be perfectly normal if someone were to find his best friend kissing his sister in a closet, to be mad."

"Mad is an understatement. He completely overreacted."

"Not that much."

Antonio gave her an 'oh really?' look. "He chased me around with a katana for three hours, trying to decapitate me."

"He just wanted to scare you."

"Mission accomplished. I had to hide in my room, and he held me hostage there."

"He did not-"

"He sat out side my door, sharpening a sword for two days!"

Lauren smiled. "Ok. Maybe he overreacted a little bit."

"So you see why I'd like to avoid him thinking any funny business was happening in here."

"I geuss that means we have to get up?"

"Yes. But you can sleep in here tonight."

"I just might do that."

"Please feel encouraged."

Lauren smiled an kissed him for a minute. Antonio got up and Lauren followed him. She opened his door and slipped out.

"Lauren," Mike said coming out of his room. "What're you doing?"

Lauren turned around. "Nothing you need to know about," she declared crossing her arms.

Mike glanced at Antonio's door. "Sure..." he said carefully. He cast her one more sly look before heading to breakfast. Lauren sighed and walked down the hall. She only made it a few feet before she ran into Kevin.

"Oops, sorry Lauren," he said. "Wait...why are you walking around in your pjs?"

"Becasue I am," she said simply, hoping he'd take the hint.

Kevin looked at her strangely, then looked at Antonio's door. "Ok," he said. "See you later." He walked past her and to his own room, across from Mike's.

Lauren sighed and turned the corner, running straight into Emily. The yellow ranger fell on the ground. "Oh hey Lauren."

"Sorry Em," Lauren replied, helping her to her feet. "I'm just in a hurry."

"Where?"

"My room."

"Why are you in your pjs? And coming from-" she stopped suddently as apparent realization dawned on her face. "You know what, forget it. I don't need to know."

"Its not-"

"Nope," Emily feared putting her hands over her ears and continuing on her way.

Lauren sighed. _How is it possible I've just about run into every every person in the_ _ house? Thank God one of them wasn't Ji or Jayden._

Luckily she managed to make it to her room without being seen again. She changed and went to join the others for breakfast. Mike gave her a smirk, and Kevin raised an eyebrow. Emily blushed and giggled. Mia and Jayden gave them looks of confusion.

Mike leaned over and whispered something to Jayden, and Emily whispered something to Mia. Both girls started giggling quietly. Lauren shook her head. She looked at Jayden and was a little scared to see how deadly calm he looked.

"Beuneas dias, amigos," Antonio said coming in.

Emily and Mia kept giggling as he sat down. Kevin and Mike just shook their heads at him; Jayden simply ate with an intimidating calmness. Antonio ate, wondering what had gotten into everyone.

Once they are done Jayden put his bowl down. "Antonio," he said pleasantly. "Since you're my best friend, I will give you a one minute head start."

"Huh?"

"I'm giving you, a head start."

"On what?"

"Running."

"Where?"

Jayden shrugged. "Anywhere," he responded getting up. "Just know where ever you go, I will find you."

"Seriously, can someone tell me what's going on?!" he asked as Jayden disappeared down a hall. "Where is he going?"

Jayden returned a second later, a sword in hand. "Thirty seconds."

"What-" He thought back to his conversation with Lauren. "Oh. Listen, funny story-"

"Ten seconds," Jayden said unsheathing the sword. He tested it weight and gave it a few practice swings and stabs.

"Jayden-" Lauren began.

"Times up!" He ran at Antonio who jumped up and made a mad dash out of the room. Jayden right behind him.

Ji came in just in time to see them disappear. "What did Antonio do now?"

Mike grinned slyly. "He and Lauren...well you know...last night."

"No we didn't!" Lauren exclaimed quickly up in seeing the look on Ji's face. "I slept with him in the sense we slept in the same bed. Not the other way!"

Mike laughed. "Someone should probably tell Jayden then," Emily said.

They heard Antonio shout in fear, as he ran past the living room, out into the yard. Jayden was right behind him, sword in hand. Antonio knocked over the rack of practice katanas in an attempt to slow Jayden down. He was disappointed to find it failed when Jayden leapt over effortlessly. Antonio nearly ran into the wall and had to stop suddenly. He wondered what his chances were of climbing to safety.

He turned around to find Jayden poising his sword at his throat. "Jayden it wasn't what you think!"

"Explain what it was then," Jayden said, inching his weapon closer.

"She came in to my room last night. We slept, next to each other, in the same bed. No funny businesses. And certainly not what I've been accused of."

Jayden inched it closer, eyes narrowed. "I swear it!" Antonio said earnestly.

"Jaydne it's true!" Lauren said from the doorway. "Nothing happened! Nothing!"

Jayden moved his sword so that the tip was brushing Antonio's throat. "Nothing?"

"Nothing."

Jayden considered this. "Consider this a warning. Keep your hands to yourself."

"Absolutely!" Antonio said nodding.

Jayden lowered his sword and went to put it away.

"Are you ok?" Lauren asked running over to Antonio.

"Yeah, I'm fine. He was just overreacting."

"Not overreacting!" Jayden shouted not looking back.

"At least you know he loves you," Antonio said.

"Yeah," Lauren agreed. "I'm gonna have to have a talk with him," she added to herself.

"You do that," Antonio said. "My offer is still good by the way."

Lauren smiled and kissed him on the cheek.


	7. Little Brother Talk

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Six: Little Brother Talk

A/N: Hello! Thanks for all the reviews! They make me happy! Please, please, please review this chapter! Thanks!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

The rest of the day went smoothly, and as normally as it usually would. Antonio went fishing and trained with Lauren, and avoided any PDA in front of Jayden. Later that night he was sitting in his room with Lauren. They we're sitting on his bed, his arms around her.

"So did Ji say anything?"

"Not at first. Unlike Jayden he actually let someone explain first."

"So he wasn't mad?"

"He did ask me if we needed to talk about...well...You know."

Antonio started laughing. "And how did that go?"

"It didn't. I assured him that I know my duty is to the world I would not do something stupid to jeopardize my fighting ability."

"What did he say?"

"He said ok, but I think he just wanted to avoid having that talk."

"Well i don't think it would be very comfortable for him."

"Definely not."

"I wonder how everyone found out so fast."

"Mike, Kevin, and Emily saw me, made their assumptions, and then passed the assumption onto Jayden, Mia, and Ji."

"You'd think they'd handle this better, living in a house of young adults and all."

"Well there is a reason that Ji has the boys and girls sleeping in different hallways."

Antonio snorted. "I think we've proven that couldn't stop us."

"True."

There was a knock on Antonio's door. "Who is it?"

"Jayden. Can I come in?"

"That depends. Are you armed?"

"Not with a weapon."

"Only with a lifetime of martial arts training," Lauren whispered to Antonio.

The gold ranger laughed. "Come on in."

Jayden opened the door and walked in. "Lauren, can I talk to Antonio alone please?"

"Sure," she replied getting up. "I have to talk to a few people about jumping to conclusions." She left the two boys, shutting the door behind her.

"What's up?" Antonio asked.

Jayden sat down on the edge of the bed, facing Antonio who sat against the wall. "We need to talk about you and Lauren."

"Look, what happened today-"

"Just listen. I'm sorry for overreacting, but I had a right to. She's my sister. My family. I love her very much."

"I know," Antonio said.

"I know you do," Jayden responded. "Which is why we're having this conversation."

"I don't understand."

"Let me explain it then. You two have been going out for a while now. She cares about you and you care about her on a level that extends past the usual friendship among the team. However, I want you to know that if you hurt her, gold ranger or not, I will kill you. And I am not joking."

Antonio nodded, feeling the severity of the situation.

"You two are allowed to make your owns decisions regarding the...actions on how far you take your relationship. Just remember that we have a duty to fulfill. Also, this is Lauren's first relationship and I don't want her to jump into something she's not ready for just because she got excited about having this special connection to you."

Antonio nodded. "Jayden I would never push her to something she's not ready for."

"I know. I trust you with her more than anyone else, because I know you better than anyone else. And better than anyone else I know you are a good guy. But, as Lauren's brother, I feel like I need to talk to you about this. I say it not as your friend, but as her brother. And if you break her heart, or take advantage of her, I will hunt you down, drag you back, and end you."

Antonio nodded. "I would never do anything to hurt her Jayden. I love her. More than anyone I've ever known. "

"I know you do. And I know she loves you too."

Antonio smiled. "Is that it?"

Jayden nodded. "Yup. I'll leave you to relax."

"If you see Lauren tell her to please come back."

Jayden nodded, smiling. "Will do."

He left Antonio and a few minutes later Lauren re-joined her boyfriend, snuggling on his bed.

"What was your talk about?" she asked him.

"Just standard boyfriend-to-only-brother stuff."

"Did he threaten you?"

"Only a little."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "I'm the older one. I don't need him to fight my revenge for me."

"He's just looking out for you."

"I'm an adult. I can handle my relationships on my own."

Antonio smiled kissed her neck. "I know you can."

Lauren smiled and kissed him back.

-Light and Dark-

A few hours Lauren was heading for her room. She detoured first though and knocked on Jayden's door.

"Come in," he said. "What's up?" he asked when she came in and shut the door behind her.

"We need to talk."

"About what?"

"You chasing my boyfriends around with a sword, threatening to kill them."

"I've only done it to one person."

"And that's more than enough. Jayden, you need to not overreact to my being in a relationship."

Jayden sighed. "I know."

"Then stop. If Antonio were to hurt me I can take care of it myself."

"I know you can. But as your brother I'm entitled to be protective."

"I'll remember that when you get a girlfriend."

"We'll talk when that actually happens."

"Gotta happen some time, little brother."

Jayden smiled. "But not yet."

"No," Lauren agreed. "Not yet."

"Can you promise me one thing?"

"What is it?"

"Don't rush into any commitments with Antonio. Not until you know you're ready."

"I won't Jay. Don't worry."

"But I do worry."

"And that's why I love you."

-Light and Dark-

While she got ready for bed Lauren thought over her talk with Jayden. Part of her was happy he was being so protective. The protective job was usually taken by the girl's dad, but that was something Lauren didn't really have. She loved Ji, but she didn't have that special bond he had with Jayden, even though at times he did feel like a father to her. Jayden stepping up and fulfilling the role lacking in her life right now made her happy.

It made her love him even more. And she knew that when he started dating, she would be there to fulfill the role to their absent mom. Her mind wandered back to her promise. She certainly wasn't ready to take the step everyone had assumed they'd taken. Not yet. She didn't even want to take that step until she was married, and she wasn't married to Antonio. Not yet.

"Maybe it's time we talked," Lauren said to herself. "Just so we know each other stands."

She decided this was a good idea. She truly cared for Antonio and wanted to be with him. And anything she could do to make that easier, and deeper, was fine by her.


	8. Blood Work

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Seven: Blood Work

A/N: konichiwa! (99% sure I spelled that wrong.) Here's the next chapter. Please read and review! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Dayu watched the gold ranger through a gap. She had been doing this for days now, and quite frankly found it was more boring than just sitting on the junk. All he did was fish if he wasn't in the Shiba House where she couldn't watch him.

The gold ranger got up and went into the Shiba House. Dayu sighed and returned to the junk.

"Are you ready to attack him yet?" Dayu asked Octoroo.

"Oo aa oo," Octoroo replied. "Have you found the perfect time to attack him?"

"Pick a time," Dayu said. "He's always alone"

"Oo aa oo, excellent. Now we're going to start the next phase of my plan."

"Which is?"

"Oo aa oo, I want you to attack him and fill this with his blood." He handed Dayu a slim vial.

"Why?"

"Oo aa oo, don't ask questions. Just do it."

"Fine," Dayu said. "What about the other rangers?"

"Oo aa oo, I'll send moogers to attack them. You take some with you. Wait until I say to go, so that the rangers won't be alarmed of you going through."

"Got it," Dayu said.

-Light and Dark-

Antonio looked around again. He couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He'd been feeling like this for the past few days, but he couldn't see anyone every time he tried to check. He shook himself. "Being stupid," he muttered. "Everything is fine."

He heard a noise behind him. One he only knew too well. He turned around and saw Dayu with a bunch of moogers behind him. Dayu smiled. "Get him."

Antonio grabbed his morpher.

"SAMURAI MORPHER, GOLD POWER!"

"Barraccuda blade!"

He swung his sword at the moogers that attacked him. His morpher went off. "Yeah?"

"Antonio there's a nighlock attack," Jayden said.

"You don't say?" Antonio asked sarcastically. He blocked a mooger sword and defeated it. He stumbled forward as a mooger hit him from behind. He landed on the ground. Another mooger slashed its sword across his back. He rolled away in an attempt to protect himself, not noticing he'd dropped his morpher.

Antonio managed to protect himself with his sword again. A mooger kicked Antonio in the wrist, causing him to drop it. The moogers punched on him and he tried to defend himself.

"Enough," Dayu said. "Just hold him down."

The moogers stopped beating Antonio and grabbed his arms and legs, pinning them down. He tried to throw them off, but to no avail. Dayu came over and pulled out a knife. She made a deep gash in Antonio's arm. The gold ranger whimpered in pain. She held the vial up to the blood flow and let it fill. Antonio tried to free himself again, but it was no use. All he could do was watch as Dayu took his blood.

-Light and Dark-

"Guys," Jayden said. "I think Antonio is in trouble."

"Why?" Mike asked defeating the last mooger.

"There's something wrong."

"How do you know?"

"I can't explain it," Jayden said thinking of the strange sounds he'd heard when he'd called his best friend. "He just really needs our help."

"Let's go then," Lauren said.

"Does anyone even know where he is?" Emily asked as the followed Jayden at a sprint.

"Yeah," the red ranger said. "He's fishing at a river not far from here."

He let the team through the woods to the spot where he knew Antonio would be. He gasped when he saw Antonio pinned to the ground by moogers.

"Let him go!" Lauren said swinging her spin sword. Dayu jumped away and disappeared through a gap, but no one paid her any mind. They focused on destroying the moogers. Once free, Antonio was able to sit up and scoot away from the fight. The rangers de-morphed when the last mooger was beaten. Lauren ran over to Antonio and hugged him. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah," he said, burying his face in her shoulder. He winced as gasped as the cut on his arm hit her.

Lauren jerked back instinctively and saw the gash. "I'm sorry," she said.

"Its ok," he said. She helped him to his feet.

"What did Dayu want?" Kevin asked, both confused and concerned at the same time.

"My blood," Antonio replied pulling his scarf off his neck and holding it against his arm.

"Your- Why?!" Emily asked.

Antonio shrugged. "Who knows."

"Let's get you home, before smooth by else happens," Jaydne said.

Kevin and Mike hung near the back of the group. "This is bad," Kevin said.

"Tell me about it," Mike said. "This is weird."

"What use could they probably have for Antonio's blood?!"

Mike shrugged. "Voodoo?"

"Not even funny," Kevin said smacking him on the back of the head.

"Black magic?" Mike suggested, ready to swat the blue ranger's hand away.

"Could be. But black magic for what?"

"I dunno. Maybe we should keep an eye on Antonio."

Kevin nodded in agreement. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're right."

"I am?!"

"Yes. We need to watch Antonio. The nighlocks up to something, and it's not good."

"Got that right," Mike muttered, still taken aback that they formed a plan using his idea. "Should we tell Jayden or Lauren?"

Kevin shook his head. "Not right now. They've both looked way tired lately. They don't need something else to worry about."

"Good idea," Mike said. "But Jayden and Lauren will be furious if something's going on and they don't know about. Especially if it involves Antonio."

"But if we can help him without worrying them, or even save him of need be, I think they'll understand."

"They'd better, because if Jaydne goes all crazy-samurai again, I'm blaming you."

"Don't worry," Kevin said. "I'll blame you too. Except he'll believe me."

"Hey!"


	9. Shadows In The Dark?

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Eight: Shdows in the Dark?

A/N: Happy Independence Day! Here's the next chapter. Please read and review! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light a dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

It wasn't that Antonio didn't like the dark. Or even that he hated it. It was that he was so terrified, he couldn't stand being outside when there was no sunlight or even moonlight. So naturally, when Mike suggested they play a friendly game of Marco polo in the forest at night, he was the fist one against it.

"It sounds like a stupid idea," he said. "Running around in the woods at night is just asking for someone to sprain their ankle."

"What're you scared?" the green ranger teased.

"No," Antonio said defensively. "Don't be ridiculous."

"Then you should have nothing to worry about."

So this was how Antonio found himself walking gently through a darkened forest. "Of course Ji had to say this would be a good training exercise," he muttered. "Teaches us about using our other senses. I could do that perfectly well when it's light out."

He stopped when he heard a noise off to his left. He gulped and tried to quiet his unsteady breath. The point of the game was to be be be the last person found. It was more hide-and-seek. "Mike needs to get his games straight," Antonio muttered. He listened bit didn't hear anything else. He continued on his way, hands out in front of him. He looked up. There was no moon, and it was cloudy, making the stars hard to see.

Antonio heard his heartbeat in his chest as he kept moving. He had his morpher, but using it as a light was against the rules. Plus it would draw Kevin to him like a moth to a flame. He stopped again when he heard another noise. He listened for it again. It sounded like a foot stepping lightly on fallen leaves. _Probably one of the others. _He looked around. It was difficult to see.

He found his way to a tree and felt some low branches. He pulled himself up and settled on a branch. He listened for the sound again, but it had stopped. "Gotta keep moving," he whispered, his voice sounding loud in his ears compared to the silent world around him. He dropped to the ground, landing harder than he would've liked, and kept moving.

He stumbled on a tree root, and reached for something to help him balance. He'd thought he was alone, so he jumped back and screamed when he felt whatever he'd grabbed onto grab him back. He jerked his wrist away and stumbled to the ground. The darkness was suffocating, and he could just make out a shadow. He gulped. This was the reason he was scarred of the dark. He gasped when he saw two red eyes peering at him through the shadows.

He got up and ran the opposite way. He kept tripping over roots, and snapping twigs but he didn't care. He wanted far away from the shadow. He heard a pursuit behind him. He cried out in fear and pushed thorny bushes away as fast as he could. A couple slapped him in the face, giving him small scratches, but he didn't care. He tripped on a rock and landed face down in the dirt. He heard the footsteps of his pursuer getting closer and wasted no time getting up. He ran a little slower, his head starting to hurt. He felt a small trickle of blood on his temple, but he didn't care.

He didn't look back for fear of what he would see. He suddenly found himself on the ground as someone jumped on him. "Ah!" he shouted trying to throw them off. He couldn't make out their face, but the grip on him was strong. He screamed in terror. He captor may have said something, but he couldn't hear them. He was in full panic mode. His heart thumped, bruising his rib cage.

"Antonio!" Lauren shouted running up. She shone her flashlight on him. "Calm down."

Kevin and Mike crashed through the trees next and shone their lights on whoever was holding Antonio down. The gold ranger was shocked to see Jayden. The red ranger's face was dirty, and a little bloody. He was put of breath from chasing his friend.

"Jayden-" Antonio said breathlessly. "You...You were chasing me?"

"Yeah," Jayden said letting him up.

Antonio got to his feet and looked around. All the others were here now and watching him. "But...it couldn't have been you."

"It was though. I started chasing you after you flipped out. I thought you were in trouble."

"But I thought-"

"What?"

"The shadow..." He whispered.

"Shadow?" Kevin asked, concerned.

"The shadow. It...it was a person. With glowing red eyes."

The rangers all looked at each other. "Antonio," Mia said. "There is no shadow."

"We would've seen it," Lauren said.

"But it was there. It had been following me! I saw it!"

Mike shook his head like he thought Antonio was crazy.

"Antonio," Lauren said kindly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "There is no shadow. You imagined it."

"No! I really didn't!"

"The darkness must've freaked you out and your mind played tricks on you," Emily said.

"No! There's something out here!" He grabbed a light from one of them. "I'll sow you!"

He took off running the way he'd come.

"Antonio stop!" Laurens shouted as they followed him.

He stopped at the place he'd seen the shadow. He shone the light in the area. "See! Right there-" He realized the light was shining on nothing. Just a bush. "But-"

"Dude there's nothing there," Mike said.

Antonio shook his head."I don't understand it."

"There's nothing to understand," Kevin said firmly. "You imagined it."

"No!" he shouted turning to face them. "I didn't. It was real!"

Jayden sighed. "I think we should go home."

Lauren grabbed Antonio's wrist. "Come on 'tonio."

He followed her reluctantly. He stopped and took one last look at the spot. They didn't believe him. But there really had been something there. He wasn't crazy.

Right?


	10. A Not So Good Morning

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Nine: Not A Good Morning

A/N: Bonjour! Ok, now things are getting interesting...as if they aren't already. Please read and review! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light a dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

The next morning Antonio walked into the living room with the biggest smile on his face.

"What're you so happy about?" Mike grumbled, tired after their late night.

Antonio shrugged. "I dunno. I just am."

"Ok then."

Antonio sat down and started eating. Mia and Emily came in.

"Hey Antonio," Mia said. "Feeling better after last night?"

"Oh yeah. Loads better. I can't even remember why I was so scared."

"That's good," Emily sad brightly.

Jayden came in with Kevin and Lauren.

"See anymore shadows last night?" the blue ranger asked teasingly. Mia elbowed him in the ribs. "What-"

"What shadows?" Antonio asked.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

"Excuse me?" Lauren asked.

"I said what shadows?"

"He's kidding right?" Mike asked looking around.

"No, I'm not kidding."

Jayden looked at him suspiciously. He saw pure confusion behind his friend's smile.

"The shadows you supposedly saw last night," Mia said.

"You know, the ones that gave you a heart attack," Mike said.

Antonio shook his head. "Nope. Doesn't ring a bell."

"Ok then," Jayden said, deciding not to push the topic further.

The rangers finished eating then went to train.

"Antonio," Jayden said. "Be careful."

"Always, amigo," Antonio said leaving to go fishing. As he walked he whistled and looked around. Everything was so bright, it was like darkness had never exsisted. He felt so happy and carefree. He smiled to no one and headed for the docks.

-Light and Dark-

A few hours later the rangers were still training in the yard. Mike ducked as Kevin sent a swing at his head. He laughed and jumped back, avoiding another blow.

"Stop moving!" the blue ranger said in exasperation. "It's bad enough Antonio does it!"

"So you just want me to stand there and-" He stopped as Kevin looked at the sky behind him, eyes widening. Mike turned around and looked at the sky.

A black circle was passing over the sun. At this point everyone in the yard dropped their arms and practice katanas to look up. Even Ji, who had been overseeing them looked at the sky.

They watched as the black circle covered the sun completely, casting a shadow over the yard.

"I didn't know there was a solar eclipse today," Mike said.

"Something tells me this isn't an eclipse," replied Kevin.

Jayden's samuraizer went off. "Hello?"

"Do you guys see the solar eclipse too!" Antonio asked.

"Yup."

"Isn't it cool!"

"No...because I don't think it's a-" He was cut off as the gap sensor went off. "Now I'm sure it isn't."

"At the docks!" Ji shouted, after checking the map.

"Antonio!" Lauren said as they ran to the battle.

"Antonio! Antonio listen!" Jaydne shouted, cutting off his friend's senseless rambling about how cool the "solar eclipse" was. "There's a nighlock at the docks. Be on your guard!"

"You got it Amigo!" Antonio said, cheerfully.

If he could've Jayden would've smacked the gold ranger. "Don't sound to excited."

"Why?"

Jayden really wanted to smack him. Just once. "Never mind. Just look for the nighlock and be careful."

"Ok!" Antonio said hanging up.

Jayden sighed and shut his samuraizer.

"You tell Antonio?" Mia asked.

"Yup."

"And?"

"I think he's under a spell."

"Why?" Lauren asked, starting to get concerned.

"Because he sounds like he's on drugs!" Jayden said. Mike burst out laughing.

-Light and Dark-

Antonio looked around. It hadn't really occurred to him that the situation was serious. He stopped smiling and looked around some more. He dropped his fishing pole onto the ground. "Who...who are you?" He asked the black ranger standing a few yards away.

The black ranger laughed. "You're the gold ranger, no?"

"Yes." Strangely enough there wasn't any part of Antonio's brain wondering why he wasn't morphing.

He laughed. "I was warned you would be like this."

Had Antonio been in his right right frame of mind he would've noticed how similar the black ranger was to himself. The black ranger's suit had the same look as Antonio's. All the places his suit was gold, the other's was black. All the places Antonio's suit was blue, the evil samurai's was a darkish kind of gray. His helmet was pure black with the symbol for darkness on it.

Had Antonio been acting the way he should've, he would've started to get scared. But he didn't feel scared. Only...accepting. Like he'd seen this person before. _No! Nighlock! Pretty sure this is a nighlock._ He crossed his arms and titled his head. The black ranger mirrored him. Antonio should've also noticed that the black ranger was the same height and build as him.

"Antonio!" Jayden shouted as the others ran towards him.

"Later, Samurai of Light," The samurai of Darkness said. "I think I'll introduce myself to your...friends..." he said the word with contempt in his voice. "some other time."

"Stay away from my friends," Antonio said threateningly, suddenly protective.

The black ranger laughed. "Protective. Very interesting. I look forward to meeting you more." He disappeared through a gap.

"Antonio!" Jayden said stopping in front of him. "Are you ok?"

Antonio nodded. "Yeah."

"Guys," Mike said. "I guess I'll bring up the elephant in the room. Did everybody else see the black ranger too?"

They all nodded. "What did he want?" Lauren asked.

Antonio shrugged. "Nothing really. Just wanted to meet me I guess."

"Oh well in that case he can do it when there's witnesses," Kevin said.

"Kevin's right," Mia said.

"I'm gonna suggest we continue this conversation at the house," Jayden said.

The others, minus Antonio, who was still acting like the encounter had been no big deal, nodded in agreement.

-Light and Dark-

"That's was fast," Ji said when they got back.

"We didn't need to fight," Emily said as they sat down.

"Whaty not?"

"Oh because the nighlock just wanted to talk to Antonio, oh and the monster was a black samurai ranger by the way," Mike said.

"Thank you for that Mike," Lauren said sarcastically.

"A...a black ranger?" Ji asked. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," Jayden said.

"Why did he want to talk to Antonio?"

They all looked at the gold ranger. "Oh, he just wanted to meet me."

"Why?" Jayden asked.

Antonio shrugged. "I dunno. But who wouldn't want to meet me!" Jayden resisted the urge to smack him. Lauren however, did not. "Hey!"

"So obviously this guy wants something to do with Antonio," Jayden said.

"What could he want?" Emily asked.

"No clue, but we need to be careful. Especially you," he added looking at Antonio. "I don't want you to leave the house without your morpher, and stay in areas with more people."

"So I can put more people in danger?" Antonio asked, confused.

"Fine. Just make sure we can contact you, and vise versa, at all times. Understand?"

"Everything but vise versa."

This time both red rangers couldn't resist the urge to smack him.


	11. Shadows In the Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Ten: Shadows In the Day

A/N: Ne-how! (Very sure I spelled that wrong.) Here's the next chapter. Sorry it's short. Please review! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light a dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Throughout the rest of the day the rangers kept Antonio in the house and yard.

"We can't keep him in here forever," Lauren said, watching Jayden and Antonio train in the yard.

"We won't," Ji said. "Just for today, and maybe a couple days after that. Just in case."

"In case what? The nighlocks have suddenly decided they want to get rid of him?"

Ji shrugged. "It seems like that's the case. And creating an evil ranger isn't the worst way to do it."

"But why Antonio?"

"Could be any number of reasons. He gives you power ups, he fixes zords when they're broken...he's close to you and Jayden."

Lauren sighed and glanced at the sky. The black circle was still covering the sun, casting a shadow over the yard. Mike and Kevin walked in through the gate.

"Well everyone in the city seems to think this is just some monster scheme," Mike said.

"And they're not worried?" Jayden asked.

"Nope," Kevin replied. "Everyone seems to think it'll get resolved like everything else."

"At least they have faith in us!" Antonio said cheerfully.

"Yeah," Kevin said eyeing him suspiciously. "Have you figured out a way to fix him yet?"

Ji shook his head. "We have no record of this black ranger, so we have no way to know how to cure Antonio."

"Well let's find one fast. He's really getting on my nerves."

"And watch this," Jayden said. He faced Antonio and held up his fists. The gold ranger mirrored him. Jayden aimed a punch for his head. The gold ranger ducked, and moved to the side a bit. Jayden kicked him three times in rapid suggestion, breaking his defenses and knocking him onto his back. Antonio got to his feet.

"Good shoot," he said friendly.

"See?" Jayden asked.

"I don't get it," Mike said.

"Antonio should've been able to take Jayden down, right after he blocked him," Kevin said.

"Thank you," Jayden replied. He turned to Antonio. "Why didn't you?"

The gold ranger shrugged. "I didn't think too."

"Why not?"

"I don't know. I just couldn't."

Kevin shook his head. "Weird."

-Light and Dark-

Later that day Emily and Mia were going through the archives, looking for any useful information.

"Find anything?" Jayden asked walking in.

"No," Emily said shaking her head.

Jayden sighed and grabbed a random book. He started going through it, looking for any useful information.

Kevin walked in looking irritated. "Have we found a way to cure Antonio yet? Cause he's getting on my nerves."

Mia smiled. "How?"

"All he's doing is smiling. He doesn't understand that this is serious!"

"What I don't understand, is how it happened," Emily said. "It started this morning, before he met up with the black ranger."

"And..." Mia asked, not understanding.

Jayden did though. "How did he put a spell on Antonio?"

Kevin frowned. He hadn't thought of that. "Maybe he was the shadow Antonio saw last night. And he put the spell on him then."

"But why cast a spell on him that makes him happy, carefree, and literally fearless. Wouldn't they want to do something that would induce more negative emotions."

"That would make them stronger," Kevin said. "Theoretically at least."

"So why do it the other way around?" Emily asked.

Jayden shook his head. "I honestly can't think of any reason."

"Is any of this even useful?" Kevin asked.

"Possibly," Jayden said. "We need to figure out what they're after."

"It just seems so...counterproductive for the nighlocks," Mia said. "Seems like making us happy is pretty much the exact opposite of what they usually want."

"I know," Jayden said. "Just keep an eye on Antonio. I don't know what the nighlocks are planning, but I don't like it."

"You think whatever they did will hurt Antonio?" Mia asked.

"I don't know, but I'm not willing to take any chances."

Kevin nodded. He and Mike were already on top of it. He smiled a little.

_Time to implement our newest plan._


	12. Midnight Meeting

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Eleven: Midnight Meeting

A/N: Aloha! I brings another chapter! Thanks for all the reviews, please keep them coming! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

"Why exactly do we have to do this?" Mike asked.

"Because we need to figure out what's wrong with Antonio," Kevin replied.

"And spying on him is going to help?"

"It's not spying-"

"We're watching him, and his every move," Mike argued. "Pretty sure it's called spying. Or stalking."

Kevin sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, it's spying but it's for his own good."

"How?"

"Look, that black ranger looked just like him. He shows up after Dayu takes blood from Antonio, and you don't think it's suspicious?"

"It is but-"

"There has to be some kind of a connection between them."

"So you think by spying on Antonio we'll be able to figure out the connection."

"Exactly," Kevin confirmed nodding. "And I have a strong feeling that the nighlock's sudden interest in Antonio, is connected to the connection."

"Connected to the connection," Mike repeated, nodding his head. "So how are we going to do this?"

"I'll take the first watch, since I'm up till midnight anyways. I keep an eye on him at night, and abattoir can take the day."

"Sounds fair," Mike said nodding. "But won't the others realize what we're doing?"

"Maybe, but I doubt it. They're all too busy looking for a way to cure him."

"Jayden and Lauren will probably not be pleased when they find out what we're doing."

"We're doing it for his own good. And if we can solve the confusing puzzle, they might be willing to give us a break"

"I hate puzzles."

-Light and Dark-

Later that night while all the other rangers were sleeping, Kevin trained, and regularly checked on Antonio.

While the gold ranger slept, he dreamed...

He walked through a darkened forest with nothing but the sound of his footsteps reaching his ears. He looked around, but could see no one. He was sure it was night, but he could see the forest as if it was clear as day.

He stopped in front of a dark figure, little more than a silhouette in the dark.

"I'm waiting for you," the Samurai of Darkness said.

"I'm coming," the Samurai Light replied...

Antonio opened his eyes like he'd would naturally. He sat up and threw his blanket off. He got dressed silently ans grabbed his shoes. He opened his door silently and krept into the hall. He closed it just as quiet and tip-toed down the hall, leaving his morpher behind. He walked as silent as possible and let himself out the front door.

Kevin was training when he heard a slight creak. He stopped and walked to the dojo door. He stick his head out and looked around. He couldn't see anyone. Then he saw Antonio. He ducked behind the door, so the gold ranger didn't see him. He watched as Antonio left the house. He set down his practice katana and followed Antonio.

As soon as the gold ranger was outside he put his shoes on and walked across the yard. He left the safety of the Shiba House for good and headed straight into the woods. He walked without need of light, or really taking in his surroundings. Had he been in his normal mind he would've been having a panic attack; being in the woods alone when it was this dark out. He was so focused in his destination he had no idea Kevin was following him; ducking behind tress and bushes, trying not to be discovered.

Antonio walked on in a grim silence. He didn't have a destination in mind really. He just followed followed the feeling. It was if a magnet was directing him to a specific place. He reached his spot and stopped in his tracks. Kevin quickly found cover in trees near-by tree that also have him a great vantage point. He clenched his teeth to keep from gasping. Standing across from Antonio was the black ranger. Kevin was able to get a better look at the evil ranger from here, and he shocked. Looking at the two standing in front of them, he realized if they'd been wearing the same disguise, or ranger suit, he wouldn't have been able to tell them apart.

"Hello, Samurai of Light," The black ranger said.

"Hello, Samurai of Darkness," Antonio said, his voice even and sure. Part of his brain recognized the black ranger. The way he stood, identical to his won stance. Feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed. "Why did you lead me here?"

"I simply wanted to talk, get to know you better."

Kevin shook his head. This didn't sound good. He noticed the black ranger almost melted into the darkness. Compared to him, Antonio was pretty much glowing with light.

"Why?" No trace of accusation or hatred in his voice. Just curiosity.

"So that I may complete my mission."

"Does this mission involve my friends?"

"You're good at this game. And since you asked, yes. But of course you're the important one."

"Leave my friends alone," Antonio hissed, eyes narrowing.

"So protective. I see you also possess selflessness, love, loyalty, bravery... All very good emotions."

"You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"No. And I don't need to. Just remember how this all happened. But of course, you wouldn't..." With that the black ranger took a step back and melted into the darkness.

Antonio stood there for a moment, then turned and walked home.

Kevin followed, keeping with the pattern of hiding, ducking, and following. His mind was running circles trying to figure out what had just happened. It felt like more questions had been created rather than answered; but he knew one thing. Antonio was connected to the black ranger. Somehow; someway; he was.

And Kevin was determined to find out how.


	13. Night Conversations

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Twelve: Night Conversations

A/N: Hey yal! I've got another chapter for yas! Please review! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

When he got back to the house Kevin made a beeline for Mike's room. "Mike. Mike!" he hissed smacking the green ranger's arm.

"Huh! Oh...it's just you," he mumbled sleeping. He yawned. "Dude whatever it is better be urgent. Like nighlocks are invading the house urgent."

"It is!"

"Fine." Mike sat up and turned on his bedside lamp. "What's up?" the green ranger asked rubbing his arm.

"Antonio met with the black ranger earlier Kevin said keeping his voice low.

"What?! Why?!" Mike asked.

"The black ranger just wanted to talk to him I guess b-"

"What is up with this guy not trying to destroy us on sight like every other nighlock?" Mike asked.

"Will you let me finish! As I was saying, Antonio said that the black ranger called him there."

"Called him there, like he contacted him somehow?"

"Yeah. Exactly like that."

"How could he have done that?"

"I have no clue, but this is getting weirder."

"You're telling me. We should tell-"

"Do not say Jayden, Lauren, and Ji."

"Why not? Kevin this nighlock has it out for Antonio! This isn't the kind of thing we should keep to ourselves!"

"If they find out they'll keep Antonio in the house permanently, and we might never find out what the black ranger wants."

Mike sighed. "Were taking a huge risk here man. They'll kill us when they find out."

"It's for Antonio's own good."

"I just hops they see it that way," Mike said. "Can I go back to sleep now?"

"Yes," Kevin said. He got up and left as Mike turned out his light.

Kevin walked towards his own room. It was midnight and he need to to sleep. He stopped just outside us door, across from Mike's. He heard muttering coming from Jayden's room. He frowned and crept to the red ranger's room. He saw the door was cracked open a little. He opened it more and peered inside.

Jayden was tossing and turning in his bed, muttering in a low, urgent voice. Kevin walked in and approached the sleeping samurai cautiously. "Jayden," he whispered, touching the red ranger's trembling shoulder gently. "Jayden."

"No...No," Jayden said. "I...I have to save him...No..."

"Jayden it's just a dream," Kevin said.

"I have to save him...can't...won't...the light can't die...he's not just mine...he's hers..."

"What?"

"Not killed by dark...burned by fire...give away...her hearts desire..."

"Wake up!" Kevin hissed, shaking Jayden.

"Ah!" Jayden screamed jerking awake and tackling Kevin to the ground.

"Jayden. Jayden it's me relax! It's just me!"

"Kevin?" Jayden asked, his breathing heavy. He was sitting on top of the blue ranger, hands around his throat. "What're you doing in here?"

"I heard you muttering and came to investigate. Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah I..." He took a deep breath. "It was just a dream. A bad dream is all."

"Ok, Kevin said. "Was It about Antonio?"

"Never mind," Jayden told him.

"Ok," Kevin said. "Um...Jayden?"

"Yes?"

"Can you get off of me now?"

"Oh, right. Yes." Jayden got off and helped Kevin up.

"You sure you're ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. See you in the morning."

"You too," Kevin said leaving. He shut the door behind him and went to his own room. "Now I'm sure telling Jayden would be a bad idea," he whispered.


	14. Battle Realizations

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Thirteen: Battle Realizations

A/N: Ello! I haves another chapter! Yay! Please review! Pretty please!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

The next morning Jayden was getting dressed in his room.

"We need to talk!" Lauren stated walking in and shutting the door.

"Lauren!" Jayden exclaimed, jumping. "What're you doing in here?! I'm trying to get dressed!"

"I know you've been having the dreams too, so don't try to deny it."

Jayden froze and stared at her, his shirt half-way on. "What?"

"I know you've been having the dreams too. The ones about Antonio and him d-"

"Don't! Even. Say. It."

"So you have been having them."

"Yeah, for a while now."

"Do you have any idea what they mean?"

"No but-"

"But, what?"

"They've gotten worse," Jayden said pulling his shirt down. "I mean, it's started to feel more real."

Lauren nodded. "Yeah. They have. And I'm afraid they're coming true."

"WHAT?!"

"Shhhh!" Lauren exclaimed. "I don't exactly want the entire house to know we're having this conversation!"

"What...What do you mean they're coming true? They're just-"

"You can't say they're just dreams. You can't honestly say that."

"Well they are! What could possibly make you think they're coming true?!"

"In the dreams it's dark. I've checked Jayden. That circle is still over the sun. And there's less light out than usual."

"So," Jayden said uncomfortably crossing his arms stubbornly.

Lauren sighed. "And there's this black ranger."

"What about him?"

"I think he's the dark figure."

"You mean the one that laughs over Antonio's...c...corpse?"

"Yes. And the fact that the nighlocks might be targeting him doesn't make me feel any better about all of this."

"You think the dreams could be warnings of some kind?"

"Possibly. It's not that far fetched."

Jayden didn't say anything for a minute. "They can't be real. They just can't."

"The are," Lauren said gently. "We just don't want them to be. And we shouldn't...deny they aren't."

"Huh?"

"If we ignore the signs they could come true without us knowing. And...I don't know about you, but the idea of Antonio being killed, and we could've stopped it, but didn't because we were being naive, is worse than him just being killed."

Jayden nodded. "You have a point. But what can we do?"

"I don't know."

-Light and Dark-

"Hey, mì amor," Antonio said to Lauren later that, putting his arm around her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "What's up?"

"Oh nothing," Lauren said. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

"Everything. Stuff's just been so hectic lately that it's hard to process."

Antonio kissed her on the neck and put his face in her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Lauren laughed. She was about to reply when the gap sensor went off. She jumped up as Jayden ans the others came out of the house. She pulled Antonio to his feet and he followed them to the battle.

-Light and Dark-

The rangers arrived at the battle to find the moogers attacking people.

"SAMURAIZERS, GO, GO SAMURAI!"

"SAMURAI MORPHER, GOLD POWER!"

The rangers attacked the moogers. Antonio ducked as a mooger swung its word at him. He hit it with his sword, but it wasn't very hard. He had to jump to the side to avoid being hit. Another mooger caught his arm and threw him to the ground. He landed hard and jumped to his feet. He dodged another mooger sword and tried to hit them, but missed. He stopped as the moogers disappeared. He looked around. "What the-ah!" he was knocked off his feet and flew forward. He rolled over and narrowed his eyes.

The black ranger stood not far from him.

"Antonio!" Lauren said still fighting off moogers.

Jayden saw that his friend was in danger and tried to get rid of the moogers faster.

"Hello, Samurai of Light."

"Hello," Antonio replied getting to his feet.

"Master Xandred says that I have to kill you."

Antonio blinked, fear registering for a minute before disappearing. "That's not good."

"Well for you." The black ranger ran at him with surprising speed. Antonio dove to the side and grabbed his sword. He brought int up into a black just as the black ranger swung his. The two weapons hit with a clang! The black ranger tried to force Antonio's arm down. "You know, it's a shame I have to kill you. We could be such good allies."

"One problem with that," Antonio said. "You're evil. I'm not." He sidestepped and slashed the black ranger on the shoulder. He almost lost his barraccuda blade when a flash of pain traveled down his own shoulder. He disregarded it and ducked as the black ranger took a swing at his neck. He kicked the black ranger in the stomach, then stumbled back when he had the wind knocked out of him.

The black ranger came at him again, swinging his sword in quick, decisive slashes. He landed a few blows on Antonio, causing the gold ranger to fall backwards. The black ranger yelped in pain and stumbled backwards. Jayden finally freed himself of moogers and ran to Antonio's aid. He swung his spin sword at the black ranger, who stopped it with his own sword. He spun in his heel faster than Jayden could react and hit the red ranger across the chest.

"Gah!" Jayden shouted in pain. He swung his sword again and managed to swipe his sword along the black ranger's body. He didn't register Antonio gasping in pain. He continued his assault and kicked the black ranger in chest. Antonio wimpered in pain as he felt something smash into his chest. The black ranger retreated a bit. "Stay. Away. From. Him!" Jayden said, hitting the black ranger with every word. He heard Antonio cry out in pain and flinched thinking more moogers must've showed up. From the corner of his eye he saw Lauren running to Antonio, so he focused back on the black ranger.

The dark samurai didn't move for a minute. He looked at Jayden, then back at Antonio. He touched a sore shoulder experimentally and could hear the gasp from Antonio. Jayden ran at the black ranger again but the evil ranger simply disappeared through a gap. Jayden de-morphed and ran to Antonio. He had de-morphed and the others were trying to help him. Jayden was shocked to see how injured Antonio was.

"The moogers and the black ranger really but into him," Kevin said helping the gold ranger to his feet.

"Yeah," Lauren said. "Can you walk?"

"Uh-huh," Antonio said nodding. "I'm ok."

"We should go back," Jayden said. "Ji needs to look at him."

As they walked Antonio leaned on Lauren and thought. Something wasn't right. He couldn't place it, but there something really bad going on here.

-Light and Dark-

"Why didn't you destroy him?!" Master Xandred roared in anger.

"I couldn't," the black ranger replied.

"Pitiful excuse. I told you to end him!"

"Oo aa oo, what reason could you possibly have for failing?" Octoroo asked. The black ranger was perfect for their plan. He should have killed the gold ranger.

"You think you're so smart. That I wouldn't realize your full plan."

"What are you talking about?" Dayu asked.

"Well I'm not falling for it. I'm not some slow-witted nighlock you can scare into doing what you want. I'm out. I'll follow my own plan." With that he turned and left Master Xandred's junk, jumping into the Sanzu River.

"Well," Dayu said. "This is a first."

"If he ever come back destroy him!" Master Xandred shouted.

"Maybe the samurai will do it for us," Dayu said.

Octoroo shook his head. His plan had been perfect...He smiled. "Oo aa oo, this can still work."

"How?"

"The black ranger is going or go after the samurai again, and when he does it'll fulfill the rest of my plan."

Dayu smiled as she realized what Octoroo was talking about. "Lets hope so."


	15. Busted

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Fourteen: Busted

A/N: greeting good people! I brings another chapter fer ya! Yay! Please, please, please, please, please review!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

When the rangers got back to the house Antonio went to see Ji while Kevin dragged Mike into his room.

"What's up?" the green ranger asked.

"Did you not just see what happened out there?!"

"You mean the black ranger trying to kill Antonio?"

"No...Well yes...that's not what I was talking about."

"What then?"

"Every time Jayden hit the black ranger Antonio was in pain. He might as well have attacked Antonio."

Mike thought about this. "Now that you mention it, yeah."

"We knew the dark ranger was connected to Antonio, but not like that."

"This is getting weirder and worse by the minute."

"I know."

"Kevin, we really have to tell Lauren and Jayden now. This is getting serious." Mike wondered when he'd become the voice of reason.

"Not yet."

"When then?! When Antonio's dead?!" Mike asked.

"We want tell-"

"What can't you tell us?" Lauren asked from the door.

Mike turned around slowly. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough to know you two are in a lot of trouble. Come on," she said qeusturing that they should follow her. They trailed behind Lauren. They gulped when they saw Jayden and Ji sitting in the living room.

"What's up?" Jayden asked when they walked in.

"Mike and Kevin have something they'd like to share with us," Lauren said sitting next to Jayden. "Go on," she encouraged them.

Mike glanced at Kevin, giving him a 'you're going first, because this was your idea' look.

"Um...we may know some things about...Antonio and the black ranger that we haven't been sharing with you guys."

"Start sharing then," Jayden said.

"A couple of nights ago Antonio met with the black ranger. They talked a little bit, then the black ranger let him walk away unharmed."

"How do you know this?" Ji asked.

"I may have followed him."

"Why?" Lauren asked.

"Because I didn't think it would be a good idea to let him go alone. I figured out Antonio has some kind of connection with the black ranger. Anyways, he didn't attack Antonio or anything. And earlier, I noticed that..."

"That?" Lauren asked, giving Kevin a 'keep going' gesture.

"Whenever Jayden hit the black ranger, Antonio was getting hurt too. Think about it," he said quickly before Jayden could object. "The moogers barely touched him. All of his injuries were consistent with where you hit the black ranger."

"I think I would've noticed-"

"No. You didn't. You were too busy trying to make sure the black ranger didn't kill Antonio," Mike said.

They didn't say anything for a minute. Lauren caught Jayden's eye. Mike started sliding backwards. "Get back here," Kevin said through clenched teeth.

"You two..." Jayden began. "I just...I don't know what to say."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Mike asked.

"It's a, 'You boys are in a lot of trouble' thing," Ji said. "First of all, what in the world possessed you to keep this information to yourself?"

Mike pointed at Kevin. "It was his idea."

"Hey!"

"It doesn't matter who's idea this was," Lauren interjected. "While it was kind of you guys to look out for Antonio, keeping information like this to yourselves is..."

"It borders on betrayal and aiding the enemy," Jayden said. "As the leaders of this team we need to know when someone is a specific target. This is the information we've been racking our brains trying to figure out, and you boys have been keeping to yourselves!"

"Jayden's right," Ji said. "It's was very irresponsible of you, no matter how noble your intentions. Antonio's safety is at stake here. As is his life. This information can help us keep him safe."

"Yes Ji."

"Yes Ji."

"We appreciate you guys looking out for Antonio," Lauren said. "But next time, just let us know."

"Ok."

"Ok."

"Good," Jayden said.

"But what now?" Kevin asked.

"Go get the others," Ji said. "I have an idea."

-Light and Dark-

"What's up?" Antonio asked tilting his head to the side, smiling.

Jayden shook his head. Obviously the encounter earlier hadn't taken the spell off of him.

"As you all may know, or not know," Ji began. "The nighlocks are after Antonio. Apparently they're trying to get to him through the black ranger. So, until we can catch him, and figure out how to destroy him, Antonio you are to remain behind the protection symbols. That means no leaving the yard or house. Understand?"

Antonio nodded, feeling the severity of the situation. "Ok."

"What about battles?" Lauren asked.

"Given the fact that anything we do to the black ranger will happen to Antonio, he will stay here during battles. Hopefully the protection symbols will disrupt whatever spell the nighlocks are using to connect Antonio to the black ranger."

Jayden nodded. Nobody had a better idea, so this sounded like a pretty good plan.

"Don't feel to bad," Mike said patting Antonio on the back.

"So I can't go fishing?" the gold ranger asked, looking confused.

"Yes," Ji said.

"Don't worry," Emily said reassuringly. "We'll catch this evil ranger soon and then everything will go back to normal."

"I hope so."


	16. Pouty and Three Little Words

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Fifteen: Pouty and Three Words

A/N: I have another chapter! Fun fact: the name Anton is the Ukrainian version of the name Antonio. Cool, huh? Well I thought so. :) please review!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

"Can't I leave for one hour?" Antonio asked Jayden.

"No," Jayden said. "Not even for an hour."

"Please?!" Antonio begged. "I haven't fished in weeks!"

"It's only been three days," Jayden replied laughing.

"Well it feels like weeks," Antonio muttered crossing his arms.

"I know you're bored," Jayden said. "But it's for the best."

"What if-"

"No."

"Please?! You can even come with me incase the black ranger shows up."

Jayden shook his head.

"You're no fair!"

"Yes I'm no fair because I prefer to keep my best friend alive."

Antonio pouted like a three-year-old. "Please!"

"No. Don't act like that."

"What's up?" Lauren asked coming in.

"Antonio's acting like little kid because he can't go fishing."

Lauren started laughing. "Aw. Tonio don't try to guilt trip Jayden."

"He's being unfair!"

"No he's not," she said wrapping her arms around him. "He's being protective."

"But I want to go fishing!"

Jayden sighed and shook his head. "The spell is definitely starting to wear off."

"Come on," Lauren said pulling Antonio towards his room. "Lets leave Jayden alone."

"Meanie," Antonio huffed following her.

Jayden laughed and shook his head.

"What's so funny?" Emily asked coming in with Mia.

"Antonio's upset because he can't go fishing."

"Is that why he's moping?" Mia asked.

"Yeah."

"Well fishing is his life," Emily said. "Can't you let him go just for a little while? I mean, we haven't seen the black ranger for days now."

"Because Antonio is in here. I can't let him leave. He won't die from not fishing."

"I don't know," Mia said.

"He'll be fine. He's just being a baby."

"And you don't feel guilty all?" Emily asked.

"Not in the slightest."

-Light and Dark-

"Antonio,"Lauren said. "You're not going to die. I promise."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. You'll be fine. I promise."

Antonio smiled as Lauren rested her head head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "You're amazing."

"So are you," she said.

"I love you."

Lauren didn't say anything for a minute. "What- huh?" she asked sitting up.

"I said that I love you," he replied. "I love the way you smile; your eyes; your bravery; the way you fight; your laugh. I love you."

Lauren stared at him speechless. He'd never said that he'doves her before. While they kissed and cuddled, this was one step they hasn't taken yet. The unspoken question rested between them as Antonio gazed at her. Did she love him back? Lauren didn't know. Antonio was amazing. He was the most thoughtful, kind, generous, brave, and compassionate person shed ever met. She smiled. She loved when his eyes sparkled with excitement at the mention of fish. When he talked in Spanish and confused everyone. The way he laughed and smiled brightening up any room. His infectious attitude towards everything. She loved the way he hated the dark and when he annoyed Jayden.

"I love you too," she said. "I love everything about you. From your mix of Spanish and English way of talking to your fear of the dark. I love that you accept and love every person you come in contact with and the fact that you're passionate about fish. I love you. More than anyone else in the world."

Antonio grinned insanely wide ans kissed her on the lips. " Te amo más que a nadie que jamás he conocido. Mi princesa. Mi reina." (I love you more than anyone I've ever know. My princess. My queen.)

" I don't know what you said," Lauren said. "But it sounded romantic."

"It was."

They kissed passionately as the rest of the world melted away. They forgot that Antonio was in danger and that the black ranger was still on the loose. Lauren forgot about her nightmares and her worries. All that mattered in that very moment was the fact that she loved Antonio. And more importantly, he loved her back. And that made her happier than she'd ever been.

-Light and Dark-

A few hours later Jayden was in the living room with Kevin and Mike.

"Well I think our plan has backfired," Kevin said. "The black ranger hasn't shown his face since Antonio was confined to the house."

"He'll come out eventually," Jayden said. "He's a nighlock, he craves destruction."

"I hate to say it," Mike said. "But if we really want to get rid of him, we need to take some...drastic measures."

"What kind of drastic measures?"

"I was thinking...maybe letting Antonio leaving the house. Now before you say something," he added when Jayden opened his mouth to object. "just hear me out. We let him go fishing in the woods, somewhere away from people, and we watch him the entire time. When the black ranger shows up, we send Antonio home."

"That's assuming he'll listen," Kevin said.

"So you want us to use Antonio as bait?" Jayden asked.

"Well...we you say it like that..." Luck for Mike he didn't have to come up with an answer because the gap sensor went off. The rangers came running into the living room.

"In the woods," Jayden said. "Lets go."

Ji grabbed Antonio's arm. "Not you. Nice try."

"Well be back," Lauren said. "Don't worry."

"Be careful!"

"We will!" she called over her shoulder.

-Light and Dark-

The rest of the rangers arrived on the scene and looked around.

"Where's the nighlock?" Kevin asked.

"Where's gold ranger?" the black ranger asked coming out of the shadows.

Jayden blinked. The dwindling daylight the last few days was messing with his vision. "Safe."

"That's a shame," the black ranger said circling them lazily. "I was so looking forward to playing with him."

"Well looks like you'll have to settle for us," Lauren said, never taking her eyes off him.

"Hmm. No. I don't think so. You others aren't as interesting, or challenging."

"To bad," Kevin said. "Because he's not coming out of the house until you're gone."

"Oh really?"

"Really," Mike said.

"No. No I don't think so."

"What?" Emily asked, confused.

"I think he'll show. Especially if his friends are in danger." With that he ran at the rangers with Antonio-like speed and knocked them unconscious before even the quickest of them could reach their morphers. He smiled. "Let the fun begin."


	17. A Full Explanation

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Sixteen: A Full Explanation

A/N: prepare to have your minds blown! I have written another chapter. Yay! Please review!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Jayden opened his eyes to a pounding headache. He was momentarily grateful for the diminished sunlight. He tried to move his arms, but discovered he was tied up. He shifted against the uncomfortable pole he was tied to. "Is anyone else awake?" he croacked.

"Jayden?" came Kevin's voice to his right. "Where are we?"

"I don't know. Is everyone here? Mike?"

"Huh?" a groggy green ranger to his left asked.

"I'll take that as a yes. Lauren?"

"Over here Jay." He turned and saw his sister was tied to another pole a few feet away.

"Emily?"

"I'm with Lauren," the hidden yellow ranger answered.

"Mia?"

"Here," the pink ranger said from the side of their pole facing the guys.

"We're all here," Lauren said. "At least we know that everyone's ok."

"You call this ok?!" Mike asked.

"We know that everyone's alive," Lauren clarified.

"Hello rangers," the black ranger said, announcing his presence.

"You," Jayden hissed. "Let us go."

"How about, no. I need you to lure the gold ranger here since you insist on hiding him."

"Leave Antonio alone!"

"I can't. You see I have to get rid of him. The weak one."

"What?"

The black ranger laughed. "I suppose it's time I started explaining what's going on." He walked closer to them and de-morphed.

Emily and Mia gasped in unison.

Kevin's eyes widened.

Mike opened his mouth then closed it again; at a loss for words.

Lauren felt her stomach shrivel up.

Jayden blinked several times. "Antonio," he whispered.

The black ranger smiled. "Surprised Jay?"

Jayden shivered.

The unmorphed black ranger was identical to Antonio in every way. From the way he stood to the very clothes the gold ranger was wearing that day. It was if they were staring at his twin brother.

The black ranger laughed and crouched in front of Jayden. "Go ahead, Jayden. Am I Antonio?"

"No!" Lauren said. "Antonio isn't evil."

"You're trying to trick us!" Mike voiced.

"Yeah," Kevin said.

Jayden wanted to agree, but he was to unnerved. He stared into the black ranger's eyes. They were wide and dark like Antonio's. But, it was here he found the difference. Antonio's eyes were ways filled with light and happiness. Jayden saw nothing but coldness and evil in the doppelganger's. "You're not Antonio."

"Oh but you're wrong." He stood and walked so he could see them all. "I am Antonio. Or at least part of him."

"Come again?" Mia asked.

He began circling between the two poles. "I'm the dark side of him. His fears, doubts, anger, resentment. I'm the pain he felt being bullied. I'm the anger and resentment left by his father. I'm the disappointment and hurt when his best friend turned him away. I'm the hurt and anger when the blue ranger doubted him. I'm his darkness."

"Antonio doesn't have a dark side," Kevin said.

"Everyone has a dark side. But the light side, the good side was always stronger. He always pushed the pieces of me into the nether regions of his brain. He refused to acknowledgement my existence. Except in his dreams where I could remind him of it." He smirked. "The Antonio that's been with you is the light. The happiness, forgiveness, love, loyalty, bravery. All those happy emotions and memories. The nighlock created a spell to split his mind into two. The good and the bad. They used his blood to connect the spell to his mind.

"The night he first saw me was the night I was created. Normally this sort of thing would take weeks, but he was having a panic attack and the spell was able to sort the light from the dark easily. The Antonio you know hasn't existed since then."

"No!" Emily argued stubbornly. "We've been with him this entire time."

"No. You've been with the good Antonio in complete-Antonio's body. The Antonio you know consists of us both. He wouldn't be Antonio without the bad memories along with the good. We are one in the same. Two souls in a single self. You can't destroy one without destroying the other."

This took a minute to set in. Jayden wanted to punch himself. It all made sense now. That's why he'd hurt Antonio while attacking the black ranger, and why they'd thought he was under a spell. Because he was happy. He dis t have any unhappiness in him. But one thing still didn't make sense.

"If destroying the good-Antonio destroys you, then why do you want to kill him?" Lauren asked.

"Good question. It's simple. I think I've figured out a way to kill him so that I can have the body, and be the only Antonio in existence."

"But light can't exist without the dark," Emily argued.

"True, but I'm willing to take that risk." He turned away and began walking around. Confident his adversary would come to rescue them. In truth he didn't harbor any specific hatred towards the others, but he supposed after he'd gone though with his plan he could just finish them all off. Make a clean job of it.

"Game on, Light. Come and get them."


	18. One on One

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Seventeen: One on One

A/N: Hello! I hope all your minds were blown! Here's another chapter! Please review! Pretty please please!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Light trained in the yard while he waited for his friends. He had a small, nagging voice in the back of his head telling him that something was wrong.

"Antonio," Ji said coining out of the Shiba House. "I'm getting worried. The other rangers should've been back hours ago."

"Have you called them?"

"Yes. None of them are answering."

"I can go look for them."

"I'm afraid that we need you too. Just be careful. Jayden's going to be mad enough that I'm letting you leave."

"Don't worry, Ji. I will," Light said. He left the yard for the first time in days and went off looking for his friends. He felt something inside of guiding him towards the woods. At one pint he stopped and knelt down. He found a samuraizer laying in the grass. He picked it up and continued following his gut. He knew he was getting closer.

He felt the darkness coming closer. Dark had gotten them.

He emerged in a large clearing and saw the other rangers were tied to poles. "Guys!" he said running over to them.

"Antonio, run!" Jayden said.

Light didn't see Dark until his twin was pinning him to the ground. "You came."

"You didn't give me much of a choice." Dark let him up and Light climbed to his feet.

"Perhaps you can help me. These rangers are having a hard time believing you're not Antonio."

"But I am Antonio," Light argued. "I'm his love for Lauren. The first time they kissed. I'm his friendship with Jayden. I'm the day he became a samurai. I'm the love of fishing and the goofy optimism."

"Thank you for proving my point," Dark replied. "You've been acting like you're the complete Antonio this whole time."

"You tricked us!?" Emily asked. "Aren't you supposed to be the good one?"

"You never asked if I was the whole instead of a half," Light replied smoothly. "I was hoping to remain the only one in his body." He looked back at the black ranger. "He always tortured Antonio and made him doubt the world."

"I was created because the world tortured Antonio! You were the stupid, naive voice telling him that he should let go of his anger. Why he ever listened to you I'll never know!"

"Because he was supposd to! He knew I was right."

"It's doesn't matter anymore. When we're done here I'll be the only one remaining. I just have to kill you and take the body fast before I get pulled into the afterlife."

"I can't let you do that."

-Light and Dark-

Jayden could say without a doubt this was the strangest thing he'd ever seen. Two Antonio's stood facing each other, talking about a third Antonio that was apparently his best friend. He shook his head. To was certainly weird. He was shocked at the malice in the black ranger's voice. Jayden had never dreamed he'd hear Antonio's voice sound like that. Both Antonio's pulled out their morphers.

"GOLD POWER!"

"BLACK POWER!"

They morphed and pulled out their identical barraccuda blades. The began circling each other, waiting for the other to make the first move.

"Jayden!" Lauren said. "We have to stop them!"

"Why?" Mike asked. "With dark-Antonio gone we can just have good-Antonio around."

"And dark-Antonio did kidnap us," Mia said.

"He's a nighlock, he can't live!" Kevin insisted.

"No!" Jayden snapped. "Both of them are the gold ranger we love. Antonio wouldn't be himself without all of his memories and emotions. The black ranger isn't a nighlock, he's Antonio. The Antonio we don't know about. We can't kill him."

"He's right," Lauren said. "We have to stop this before we lose Antonio forever."

"Hey!" Mike shouted to the two rangers. "Antonio don't do it!"

"Stay out of it Mike!" They said in unison never taking their eyes off of each other.

Kevin felt on the ground for anything he could use to free himself. He smiled when he found a sharp rock. _This'll work! _"Keep them distracted," he said.

"Too late," Mia said as they attacked each other. The gold ranger kicked the black ranger in the chest, then winced himself. The black ranger hit him with his sword, then cried out in pain.

"Almost," Kevin whispered. He kept sawing away at the ropes. "Come on."

"Stop!" Emily shouted. "You're going to kill each other!"

"There!" Kevin declared as the ropes frayed. He managed to break them and set to work untying Jayden and Mike. As soon as they were free they ran to stop the fight.

"Stop!" Jayden said grabbing the gold ranger's arm. Soon Lauren joined them helped pull the two apart. Jayden winced as a barraccuda blade nicked his arm. He held the gold ranger's arm behind his back. Kevin helped Mike hold the black ranger. The two de-morphed.

"Let me go!" Dark said. "Let go!"

"He'll destroy the world!" Light insisted.

"What do we do?" Emily asked.

Lauren thought about it. "Call Ji," she said getting her samuraizer. "Maybe he'll know what to do."

"Lauren," he said relieved. "I sent Antonio to find you."

"We know. Ji listen, we have a problem." She explained the situation with the two Antonio's to him.

"That would certainly explain the strange activity."

"Well now they're trying to kill each other. Ji if one dies the other does too, and we'll never get Antonio back."

"Hmm," Ji said. "We need to combine them back into one Antonio again."

"How?"

"Try using a symbol sequence. You need three people. Use the symbol for light on the dark-Antonio, and the darkness symbol on light-Antonio. This should neutrize them. Then use the symbol for combine on them and it should force the together again."

"Are you sure?"

"No. This particular sitiation has never happened before, but it's the best I can come up with."

"Ok. Thanks Ji."

"Good luck," he said as she hung up.

"Well?" Jayden asked, holding the squirming gold ranger.

"Emily, Mia, come here. Get them next to each other."

"Come on you," Mike said as he and Kevin dragged the black ranger so he stood next to the gold.

Lauren finished explaining the plan to the others two girls and they took their stances.

Emily went first. "Syombol power, light!" She drew the symbol and used it on the black ranger. He hissed as his bond with the gold ranger strengthened, creating a tougher bridge between them.

Mia was next. "Symbol power, darkness!" She used the dark symbol on the gold ranger who cringed as the dark rangers thoughts became his own.

Lauren blinked as they began to blur. Her turn. "Symbol power, combine!"

The effect of the symbol was immediate. The thoughts of the two became intertwined. Soon they couldn't distinguish them.

_Must destroy the rangers- but they're my friends!_

_I don't remember my dad- that traitor!_

_I will show the world- people are good!_

_Light will- no darkness- light- dark- light!_

The boys jumped back and released the two rangers as they screamed. They put their hands to their heads and tried to regain control.

The rangers watched as the dark ranger dissapeared. The light one seemed to become grimmer as he stood up, then fainted. They rushed over to him knelt down next to him.

"Well?" Mike asked. "Did it work?"


	19. The End?

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Eighteen: The End?

/N: Hey guys! I was a little unsure about the last chapter, by I'm glad you liked it. Here's the next chapter! Just when you thought it was over, I throw this one at ya! Enjoy!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

The rangers crowded around the unconscious teammate.

"Well?" Mia asked.

"It's hard to tell," Lauren said.

Antonio opened his eyes. "Hey," he said uncertainly.

"Hey yourself," Mike said. "How do you feel?"

"My head hurts," Antonio replied sitting up.

Jayden glanced at Lauren. _Did it work?_

"Antonio, do you remember the day we met?" Jayden asked.

"Yeah, of course," the gold ranger replied smiling. "It was one of the best days of my life."

"What about when you fist showed up to be a ranger? Do you remember what I said and how you felt?"

"Yeah," Antonio said confused.

"What about what Kevin said when you told us how you were going to fix the clawzord?" Mike asked.

"He said I was a computer geek, not a samurai. What's with all the questions?"

The rangers grinned and Lauren hugged him. "It's good to have you back 'Tonio."

"Back? Where did I go?"

"You mean you don't remember?" Emily asked as he stood up.

"No. I remember, we were in the woods, then we went home."

"That was almost a week ago," Kevin said.

Antonio blinked. "What happened?!"

"You're not going to believe us," Jayden said as he wrapped an arm around Antonio's shoulders.

"Try me," Antonio replied, his friends missing the flash of coldness in his eyes.

-Light and Dark-

"Wow," Antonio said after his friends explained how the last few days had gone. "Sounds pretty weird."

"It was," Jayden said.

"Well I'm glad I didn't kill myself, if that statement makes any sense."

"It does," Lauren assured him.

"I can't believe the nighlocks did something like that." It disturbed him a little that they had been inside his head.

"None of us can," Mia said.

Antonio suddenly thought of something. "The uh...evil me he didn't by chance say anything about my less than wonderful memories, did he?"

"Now that you mention it," Kevin said. "He said something about you feeling anger and resentment towards your dad."

Antonio immediately stiffened. "He did. Did he say anything else," he asked, his boxing becoming jumpy.

"No, but what-"

"Nothing," Antonio said anticipating the blue ranger's question. "Drop it."

Kevin decided to drop it. The growing habitation in the gold ranger's eyes was scaring him. The hair hair in the back of his neck stood up when he saw a flash of hatred appear.

"How about we celebrate," Jayden suggested, breaking the tension in the room.

"Fantastico idea," Antonio said snapping out of his daze.

"It's not everyday we save the world while dealing with a split-personality-disorder type plan," Mike said.

"That is definitely one way of putting it," Emily said.

"Gotta say though," Mia said. "I like the whole Antonio better than having two halves."

"Yeah," Kevin agreed. "Handling to of them are beyond even Jayden's ability."

"You guys realize I'm standing right here, right?" Antonio asked.

"Yeah we know," Mike said.

"Lets go," Emily said. "Before Jayden changes his mind."

"Jayden and Lauren will catch up with you guys," Ji said.

"Alright, well wait for you two," Antonio said following the others, minus the two red rangers out in to yard.

"What's wrong?" Jayden asked when the door closed.

"I wanted to be sure you two were ok," Ji said. "I know about the nightmares."

"How?" Jayden asked.

"Because I know you. Especially you Jayden."

"We're fine," Lauren said. "The black ranger is gone, Antonio is ok, and the nighlock's plan is defeated."

"If anything the nightmares should stop," Jayden said.

"Ok," Ji said nodding. "Go join the others."

"Bye Ji," Lauren said following her brother out.

"What did he want?" Antonio asked taking his girlfriend's hand.

"Nothing," Jayden said. "Everything's fine."

The rangers were too happy to notice a sudden change in Antonio's dimenor. His eyes became dead and evil filled his mind. "Or is it?"


	20. A Small Mishap

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Ninteen: A Small Mishap

A/N: hey! So the story's not over till I say it is and I say...I still have a couple more things to throw in first. But there the story is coming to an end soon. But for now, read the new chapter! And reviews! Lots off reviews!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Jayden wandered through a twilight lightened world. He was near the docks in the city. As he got closer he saw that there was a lone fisherman standing at the railing. "Hello," he said as he got closer. "What's going- Antonio!" He felt relieved when he saw the gold ranger. "Antonio!"

Antonio slowly turned as Jayden ran towards him. The red ranger stopped dead in his tracks when he was a foot away. His best friend's eyes were cold and untouched by happiness as they bore into him. Jayden swallowed his budding fear.

"Antonio? Are you ok?"

"Ok? You ruined me. It's your fault."

"What?! No! Wait what's my fault?"

"You couldn't leave well enough alone. Could you? Let the war rage in its natural course instead of bottling it up."

"What are you talking about?"

"Everyone will hurt. You'll divide and defeat them. All you had to do was let go."

"Let go of what? Of you?"

Antonio looked at the sky as it darkened. "He's winning. I can't let him."

"Who? Who's winning?" He jumped back as Antonio became the black ranger. "You!"

"Miss me Jay?" the black ranger laughed.

"We got rid of you. We put you back with the Light. We defeated you."

"Did you?"

...

Jayden jerked awake. He put his hand on his sweaty forehead. He sat up and took a steadying breath. He got up and stumbled to his door. He walked silently to Antonio's and opened it slowly. He saw the gold ranger was fast asleep, his chest rising and falling with Lauren's head on it. Jayden shook his head. _I really did not need to see this._ He sighed and and turned away shutting the door silently behind him.

-Light and Dark-

in the morning when the rangers were all awake Antonio was eager to go fishing.

"Stay here," Lauren protested. "Just stay and train with us. Please?"

"I don't know mí-" He was cut off as she kissed him. "I think the fish can wait a while."

Lauren smiled and walked off to get ready. Antonio blinked and smiled.

A few minutes later all the rangers were training in the yard. Antonio ducked as Kevin tried to hit him in the head. He smiled and kicked the blue ranger in the chest.

"Whoa, wat h it there," Kevin said as he rubbed his chest. "A little too- ow!" His head snapped back as Antonio punched him in the face. "Hey!" He quickly blocked another hit and kneed the gold ranger away. "Antonio what-" Antonio apparently didn't hear him because he kept attacking. His grabbed Kevin's wrist and bent it back, bring the blue ranger to his knees and knees him in the face. Kevin fell backwards. "Ah! Antonio stop!"

"Antonio that's enough!" Jayden said.

Antonio didn't seem to hear because he jumped on top of Kevin and punched him in the face multiple times.

"Dude stop!" Mike shouted.

"Antonio!" Emily said running over and grabbing his arm. He turned to her snarled, his eyes cold and enraged. She stopped at the sight of them, and he stopped beating Kevin long enough to grab her wrist and flip her over onto her back. She cried out in pain and rolled away, Mia helping her to her feet. Kevin tried to throw Antonio off, but he wasn't trying enough. Antonio had the blue ranger's wrists pinned beneath his knees.

Kevin's eyes widened in fear as Antonio punched him again. "Ah! Stop!"

"Antonio!" Lauren said running over.

Mike beat her to it and whacked the gold ranger in the head with his practice katana. He gasped in pain and fell over. Mike grabbed Kevin and pulled him away. Lauren ran to Antonio and pinned his arms behind his back.

"What happened?" Ji demanded when he saw one ranger with bruises and a bloody nose, another holding her wrist in pain, and a other with blood sliding down his face while Lauren held his hands behind his back.

"Antonio went all beserk on Kevin," Mike explained.

"Why?"

"Ask him."

Ji looked at Antonio who was mumbling about his head. "Antonio!"

The gold ranger blinked and shook his head. He stood up straight and looked around in astonishment. "What happened?!"

"What- you tell us!" Mia said. "You're the one who attacked Kev and Em shamelessly."

"What? No. There's no way I-" He looked at the pain in the yellow and blue ranger's faces. He started shaking as bile rose in his throat. "I...I did that?"

"Yeah. You did," Mike said, still angry.

Lauren released Antonio as his shaking increased. "Antonio. Antonio!" she called after him as he bolted from the yard.

"I'll go after him," Jayden said running out.

"Come on," Ji said. "Let's get you two cleaned up."

-Light and Dark-

Antonio ran from the house and didn't look back. He tripped over a tree root and fell face first onto the ground. He lay there, unmoving and grabbed at the dirt with his hands. He felt sick to his stomach. All he could see was Kevin's bloody face, and Emily's eyes filled with fear. _What happened?! I don't remember doing it. I would never do s like that. But I did! I did and I don't know_ why!

Some time later he heard footsteps coming towards him. He didn't bother to lift his head.

"Antonio," Jayden sighed. "Have you been here this whole time?" The gold ranger nodded, still not bringing his face up from the dirt. "Antonio come on. Let's go home." He shook his head. "Why not? Because you hurt Kevin?" Antonio nodded. "Antonio no one's mad anymore."

Antonio titled his head to the side so he could see Jayden. "Really?"

"Yes," Jayden assured him. "We all know it was an accident."

"It was?"

"Yes." Jayden sat down on the ground next to him. "Ji reckons that this...um...personality disorder moment might be a side effect from reuniting your two halves. He says so long as we keep you out of violent or stress situations we should be fine. Ok?"

Antonio hesitated. "Are Kevin and Emily ok?"

"Yes. Kevin's actually impressed because you took him down so fast."

Antonio smiled a small smile.

"Will you come back now?"

"Yes," Antonio said getting up. "He long have I been here?"

"A few hours. I flowed you, but I couldn't find you so I went home for a bit, and Lauren was getting all worried so I came back out to look for you."

"Just Lauren?" Antonio asked, eyebrows raised.

"Ok, I was worried too. But so was everyone else."

Antonio smiled. "Good to know."

Jayden patted him on the back. He was sure this was a one time thing, but the small part of his brain that kept going back to his dream begged to differ.


	21. Surpirse Questions

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty: Surprise Questions

A/N: Hello my people! The chapters short, but I think it's ok. Please review!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Antonio laughed as he led Lauren to a cliff top.

"Tonio," she said. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he said. He stopped at the top of hill. They were on a grassy bluff that overlooked the beach. "What do think?"

"It's beautiful," she said kissing him.

Antonio smiled as he fell to the ground, pulling Lauren with him. They lay on the grass staring at each other. "What do you think the future's going to be like?" he asked tracing hee collar bone.

"I don't know," she said.

He smiled. "What if we were still together?"

"Well I hope we are," she said. "I couldn't imagine not being together."

An idea suddenly popped into Antonio's head and out of his mouth before he thought about it. "What if we got married?"

Lauren sat up and looked at him. "What?"

He sat up too. "What if we got married?" he asked again, the idea starting to appeal more and more. "Just think about it. You and me. Forever. We could go anywhere after the war. Live in exotic places. Eat exotic foods. We could have kids. A whole house full of them! Just imagine it."

Lauren closed her eyes. And she did. She imagined what it would be like to travel with Antonio. The two of them kissing in the rainforest, or seeing sights in Japan. She imagined small children with dark hair and blue eyes running around, tackling him to the ground. She imagined holding his hand, a gold wedding band on each of their hands. Then she imagined wearing a white dress while she walked down the isle. She saw Antonio smiling at her, his eyes full of love. She was filled with the feeling of joy as she realized she would have him forever.

She opened her eyes and was back on the bluff with Antonio. "Yes."

"What?"

"Yes. I want that. I want everything you just described. I want you forever."

Antonio grinned uncontrollably and pulled her to her feet. "Really?"

"Really."

"I really wish I had a ring, oh wait!" He took her hand and got down on one knee. "Lauren Shiba, I love you. More than anyone else in the world. More than I have loved anyone, or anything in my life. I promise if you give me the chance, I will show you forever. Will you marry me?"

"Yes," Lauren said nodding. "I will marry you."

He whooped and jumped up. He wrapped his arms around her and swept her off her feet for a minute spinning her around. "We're engaged!" He set her down and kissed her. Then he reached to his neck and untied his pendant. "This means more to me than anything," he said tying it around her neck. "I want you to have it."

"Antonio," she said. "I can't."

"Yes. You can," he said looking her inq the eyes. "Because I want you too."

"Ok," she said kissing him.

He rested his forehead against hers. "Té, amo, Senora Garcia."

"Not yet," she replied. "But I do love you too. "

"How about for now we keep this our little secret? I like living, and Jayden will kill me when he finds out."

"Yes he will. Maybe discretion is our best move here."

"But we'll tell them eventually."

"Yes. After the war. And then, you and I will be together forever."

He kissed her passionately and held her to him. "Forever," he agreed, whispering in her ear.


	22. No Choice Left

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers, but hey I can dream can't I?

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Two: No Choice Left

A/N: Ello! So it's the final chapter. I know it's sad. Thanks to everyone who has supported this story. You're all awesome! And if to anyone who reads it after its finished, please feel free to review and let me know what you think. The first part of the chapter has suggestive themes, so you've been warned. Read on, don't kill me, and review!

"We've all got both light and dark inside of us. What matters is the part we chose to act on, that's who we really are." -Sirius Black

Antonio led Lauren to the perfect place for their picnic. "Why is this place so hidden?" she asked him.

"That make it all the more special, mí betrothed."

"Antonio!" Lauren scolded. "Someone might hear you!"

"How? We're in the middle of the woods. Besides I can't say it around the house, at least let me say it now."

"Fine," Lauren said rolling her eyes.

He smiled and stopped to kiss her. "You know we're doing a very good job keeping this a secret."

"Yes, it I don't think us announcing we're engaged is something they're expecting, so it's easier to keep."

"True," Antonio admitted. "But maybe Jayden will be so happy about defeating the nighlock he'll forget to kill me."

"There hoping."

Antonio laughed and led her across a stream. "Not much farther mí amor."

"How did you even find this place?"

"I have my ways. We're here!"

Lauren looked around. They were in a grassy glade completely surrounded by woods. A small, white wild flowers grew close to the edge. "It's private "

"Exactly," Antonio said setting their picnic basket down. "We can talk about anything in the world without worrying we'll be overheard."

"Like what we're going to name those kids?"

"Yes!" he said spreading their blanket out. "Or maybe we can just sit and daydream about the future."

"That sounds lovely," she replied sitting next to him.

He smiled and kissed her on the lips, then her jaw, then her neck, then her shoulder. "You're so beautiful."

Lauren smiled and kissed his forehead, then his lips, and his neck. "Do you remember when Jayden tried to kill you because he thought we did stuff?"

"Oh yes. It's a lesson I won't soon forget," Antonio replied still kissing her neck.

"Well...What if we did."

He stopped abruptly and shot up. "Huh?!"

"You know what I mean," she replied smiling and rubbing his back.

"Lauren. Lauren," he said grabbing her arms and pushing them away.

"What? Don't you want to?"

"Of course I do. I really do. But..."

"But what? Jayden? Antonio, we don't have to tell him."

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Yes. Without a single doubt in my mind, I want you. In every way humanly possible."

Antonio smiled and kissed her collar bone. "Only if you're sure."

"I am."

-Light and Dark-

"Hey Jayden," Mike said walking into the yard. "What's up?"

"Where do you think Lauren and Antonio go when they disappear?"

"No clue. Why?"

"They've been gone for three hours."

"Oh Jayden chill," the green ranger said. "They can look after each other."

"I know, but-" he stopped talking as the gap sensor went off.

"Lorring Ave," Kevin said as he and the other rangers ran out of the house.

"I'll call Lauren and Antonio," Jayden said puling his samuraizer out.

"Hello?" Antonio answered.

"Nighlock attack. Lorring Ave."

"Be there in a second," the gold ranger said hanging up.

"Nighlock attack?" Lauren guessed as he jumped to his feet.

"You guessed it."

"We need to get there fast."

"I know, come here," he said taking her hand. Lauren felt her stomach flip flop at his touch. "Get on my back."

"Why?" she asked as she climbed on his back.

"I'm going to get us there."

"Can you run fast while carrying someone?"

"No, clue. But let's find out." He took off running as fast as he could through the woods. Lauren held on tight, pressing her face to his neck.

-Light and Dark-

"Hope Antonio and Lauren get here soon," Kevin said as he beat another nighlock away.

"No kidding," Mia said as she kicked a mooger in the chest.

"Almost there," Antonio said. They neared the battle and Lauren slipped off his back and ran beside him.

"GO, GO, SAMURAI!"

"GOLD POWER!"

They jumped into the fight without a second thought. Antonio hit a monster with his sword and ducked. He punched a mother and jumped back to avoid a blow. He fought hard, trying to get rid of them. He stumbled and a mooger grabbed his arm throwing him to the ground. He landed on his back and rolled in an attempt to avoid another blow. His breath became staggered. Antonio clenched his fists as his head started to hurt.

"Ah!"

"Antonio!" Jayden yelled. He tried to see the gold ranger and help him, but there were too .any moogers. His attention was quickly drawn away by the fight.

Antonio gasped as a mooger kicked him in his unprotected side. He closed his eyes then opened them again. Coldness filled them.

"Jayden, go help Antonio! I got these guys!" Mike said stepping up next to the red ranger.

"Thanks." Jayden jumped through the employers and made it to Antonio. "Ant-" he stopped in shock. Standing in firing of him was the black ranger. "No. No...we...we destroyed you."

"Did you Jay? Did you really?" Dark asked in a sneering voice.

Jayden's eyes traveled to the black ranger's arm. A quick flash of gold appeared. Jayden sheathed his sword. "I won't fight you. You're Antonio."

"Fight me, Jayden. Go ahead. I dare you."

The others finished the battle and encircled the two rangers. Jayden tried to search for some sign that his best friend was in there. "I don't know how you resurfaced, but we'll find a way to fix you."

"As if. I won't let you."

"It's not your choice," Emily said. "Antonio is our friend. We won't let you hurt him."

"We'll see about that." The black ranger took out his sword and attacked. Jayden swooped to the side. The black ranger came at him with Antonio's speed and hit the red ranger across the chest multiple times. Jayden fell to the ground in pain.

"Ah!"

"Jayden!" the others chourused. They took out their swords and attacked the black ranger. He smiled and kicked Emily in the chest, then tripped Mike, and tried to stab him with his sword. Lauren tried to disarm him, but he moved away and she caught Kevin's arm instead. The black ranger ran at them from behind and sent the two samurai sprawling to the ground. Mia looked for him, but he grabbed her neck and throw her to the ground. He laughed. They were hesitant to attack their friend, but he would think twice about attacking them. He walked over to Jayden and grabbed him by the neck, dragging him to the center of the group.

"You're first, Jayden," the black ranger said, sneering the red ranger's name. He placed his sword to the leader's neck. "Any last words?"

Jayden looked left and right at the others. They didn't know what to do. Killing Antonio would be wrong, but if they tried to save Jayden he would be dead before they reached him. He looked back up at the ranger above him. "Antonio," he said. "You're my best friend. Please stop. For me. You don't mean to do this."

"How touching, but I do." Jayden braced himself, but then he saw it. A flash of gold. The black rangers arm started shaking and his suit turned from black to gold. Jayden smiled.

Antonio shook his head and opened his eyes. He took in the scene around him. His friends were all lying on the ground looking like they'd been beaten. He felt someone grab his arm and looked down. His blood ran cold when he saw his barraccuda blade pressed against Jayden's throat. His hand let go of it like it was made of burning iron. In a flash it all came back to him. Attack his friends, trying to kill Jayden. He de-morphed and stepped back.

The others de-morphed as well and got to their feet. Antonio felt sadness and anger well up inside of him. He turned and ran.

"Antonio! Wait!" Jayden said running after him leaving the others behind to deal with their injuries.

Antonio was so distraught that he could use his full speed. He didn't even bother to watch where he went; he just wanted to run. He made it about ten minutes before Jayden caught up with him in a wide field. "I don't know what to do!" the gold ranger exclaimed. "I hurt you guys. More than once."

"We can fix it," Jayden said. "We'll find a way."

"No Jay," Antonio said shaking his head. "We can't. We thought we did the first time, and look what happened. What if I go all evil again? What if...What if I hurt people. Or you guys? I'm dangerous now. I'm a m-"

"Don't say it!" Jayden yelled. "Don't even think it. Antonio you are good. Inside I know you are."

"But it's not enough! Sooner or later this black ranger is going to kill you guys. What if it happens when you're asleep? What if it happens when I'm fishing and I start attacking innocent people?" Jayden didn't have an answer for him. "You know what has to happen Jayden." Antonio felt his throat well up. Tears fell down his cheeks. "You know what you have to do."

Jayden nodded. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too."

Jayden considered taking out his sword, but then decided against it. He could never stab or behead his friend. Stepped forward hugged Antonio, starting to cry. The gold ranger pressed his face into his best friend's shoulder. Jayden took a deep breath and stepped back, looking Antonio in the eyes. He saw fear and acceptance. Acceptance of what had to happen; fear for what lay beyond. He stepped around Antonio so he was standing behind him.

Antonio looked up at the sky. It looked like it was a normal day. The sun was shining in a sea of clear sky, dotted with marshmallow clouds. What was it like to die? Was it a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel? Would he become a ghost? He started shaking.

Jayden wrapped one arm around Antonio's shoulders, and grabbed his head. He too was shaking. He felt tears still running down his cheeks as his muscles tensed. Then before he could back out, his arms jerked in opposite directions.

Crack!


End file.
